Emirati kickboxing champion Ilyass Habibali's lightweight clash with Michael Wakeling headlines the UAM Fight Night Pro Card’s opening event of the year at the Etihad Arena on Saturday.
Both combatants are also skilled in muaythai but Habibali says he and his team are confident in their game plan to beat the Briton.
“I watched a few of Michael’s fights with my trainers and have my game plans ready to take him on,” Habibali said at the pre-fight conference at Yas Rotana on Friday.
“It’s best of three rounds but I have no intentions of taking the fight into the full distance. I have prepared well and feel in great shape to take anyone at this point of my career.”
Habibali has a kickboxing record of 17 victories, including five knockouts, and two defeats.
“I want to win this contest for Abu Dhabi and in front of my fans,” he said. “I have been competing in both muaythai and kickboxing, which isn’t easy, but with good planning by my trainers, I have been able to adapt very quickly from one format to the other.”
In kickboxing, using clinches and elbows aren’t allowed unlike muaythai. And returning from three muaythai events isn’t the ideal preparation for Habibali, despite his claims of adapting quickly.
Habibali has had a run of three successful outings in muaythai, winning gold at the 2022 IFMA Muaythai World Championship in Abu Dhabi in June.
He followed up that success by taking bronze in the World Games in the USA in the following month and the title belt at the King’s Cup Super-8 in Thailand in December.
“Since then, I have trained in my kickboxing for over four weeks and feel I’m 100 per cent ready to take on Michael,” Habibali added.
“After the UAM fight night I go back to muaythai preparing for the Arab Championship in March and the World Championship in Bangkok in May. For now, the focus is on the fight against Michael.”
Wakening has similar beliefs of stopping Habibali on his Abu Dhabi debut.
“He’s a tough bloke but I’m here to win and that’s what you will see, come tomorrow,” he said.
In the co-main contest, Turkey’s Vedat Hoduk, 28, hopes to bring some relief to his people who suffered from the recent earthquake.
“It’s very difficult to focus in a fight when lives were lost following the devastating earthquake, but I wish I can bring some relief to them with a win here,” Hoduk said.
He meets Moldovan Lilian Porceireanu, 24, who makes his first appearance outside Europe in the super middleweight.
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The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
Results
Female 49kg: Mayssa Bastos (BRA) bt Thamires Aquino (BRA); points 0-0 (advantage points points 1-0).
Female 55kg: Bianca Basilio (BRA) bt Amal Amjahid (BEL); points 4-2.
Female 62kg: Beatriz Mesquita (BRA) v Ffion Davies (GBR); 10-2.
Female 70kg: Thamara Silva (BRA) bt Alessandra Moss (AUS); submission.
Female 90kg: Gabreili Passanha (BRA) bt Claire-France Thevenon (FRA); submission.
Male 56kg: Hiago George (BRA) bt Carlos Alberto da Silva (BRA); 2-2 (2-0)
Male 62kg: Gabriel de Sousa (BRA) bt Joao Miyao (BRA); 2-2 (2-1)
Male 69kg: Paulo Miyao (BRA) bt Isaac Doederlein (USA); 2-2 (2-2) Ref decision.
Male 77kg: Tommy Langarkar (NOR) by Oliver Lovell (GBR); submission.
Male 85kg: Rudson Mateus Teles (BRA) bt Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE); 2-2 (1-1) Ref decision.
Male 94kg: Kaynan Duarte (BRA) bt Adam Wardzinski (POL); submission.
Male 110kg: Joao Rocha (BRA) bt Yahia Mansoor Al Hammadi (UAE); submission.
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